Ontario, Canada: Hamilton Council will ante up for PFOS study

The city has agreed to help pay for a probe into the pollution problems at the Hamilton airport.

Councillors voted Friday to pay $40,000 for a study of historic perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) contamination at the city-owned airport, a step they were initially reluctant to take for fear of being pegged with costs of the full cleanup.

“I’m just really glad that we’re going ahead with this,” said Councillor Brenda Johnson, whose ward includes the airport.

However, the city has been clear that paying for part of the study does not mean they take responsibility for the PFOS that has contaminated waterways near the airport.

Council decided this week to negotiate its share of responsibility for the polluted former airport fire training pad with the federal government, which owned the facility in the 1980s when firefighting foam used there still contained the carcinogenic chemical.

Ministry officials have said they may order immediate remediation. On Wednesday, council voted to ask the province to include the federal government in any cleanup order.